Social Democratic Party of Japan

The Social Democratic Party of Japan (SDPJ), previously known as the Japan Socialist Party (JSP), is a social democratic political party in Japan that was founded in 1945. An earlier Social Democratic Party had existed from 1926 to 1932 in Interwar-era Japan, occupying a rightist position among the three proletarian parties in Japan. In 1947, the revived party emerged as the largest party in Japan, with Tetsu Katayama becoming Japan's first socialist prime minister. At various times, the party advocated the creation of a socialist Japan, but the party program changed after 1996, when it renamed itself to the "Social Democratic Party" and adopted social democracy as its main ideology. However, after this split, most of the JSP's legislators joined the Democratic Party of Japan, and the SDPJ became a minor party.